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Introduction

Josef Scaylea/Shostal Associates

Few foods have as wide appeal as fruit. Fruits, which are the fleshy coverings for seeds, have been used as food since very early times.

Most fruits are juicy, with high water and sugar content. They contain little protein or fat but provide essential vitamins, minerals, fiber, and some carbohydrates and add variety and flavor to the diet.

The science and practice of growing fruit is called pomology. Fruits are relatively expensive because of their production and marketing costs. The steps include planting, care, harvesting, packing, storing, and shipping. Growing fruit in the home garden is a good way to have some at relatively low cost. Home gardeners who produce flowers and vegetables often balk at growing fruit because they think it demands too much space and is difficult. This may once have been true, but today there are many kinds of fruits that grow on bushes, vines, and dwarf trees that require little space and care. A dwarf plum or pear can provide both beauty and food. The blossoms on dwarf cherries and apples can equal those on flowering crab apple trees. Bramble fruit can replace hedges, while grapes can provide a shady arbor.

Tree fruit production, both commercial and in the home garden, has changed considerably since the early 1900s. After World War II, increased attention to gardening and the development of the science of pomology led to renewed interest in fruitgrowing. The introduction of dwarf trees and new systems of controlling growth made it feasible to have a fruit tree in an area as small as 25 square feet (2 square meters). Dwarf fruit trees produce fruit early and abundantly.

Small fruits are especially improved. Some of the finest flavored fruits are homegrown because they can be ripened naturally and need not be shipped. Some choice varieties are delicate and cannot be grown commercially because they cannot tolerate the rough handling of harvesting and grading machines.

It is impossible to cover all the varieties of fruits or to list all the climatic conditions under which each grows best. For local information regarding the best varieties for use, it is advisable to contact governmental agencies, regional agricultural services, and schools of agriculture.

Kinds of Fruits

Fruits can be grouped as temperate, subtropical, and tropical on the basis of their climatic needs. There are, however, many other ways to classify fruits. Temperate-zone fruits grow on deciduous trees, which lose their leaves in the autumn. Tropical fruits grow on evergreen trees. Subtropical fruits grow on either deciduous or evergreen trees.

Temperate-zone fruits are further classified by structure as pome fruits, stone fruits, and small, or berry, fruits. Pome fruits, which have a core, include the apple, pear, and quince. Stone fruits, which have their seeds inside a hard pit, include the apricot, cherry, nectarine, peach, and plum. Berry fruits are a large group, including blueberry, brambles (raspberry, blackberry, and so on), bush fruits (currant and gooseberry), and cranberry.

S.A. Scibor/Shostal Associates

Subtropical and tropical fruits include avocado, banana, citrus (grapefruit, lemon, lime, orange, and others), date, fig, mango, papaya, persimmon, pineapple, and pomegranate. Some of these fruits are major crops in various parts of the world: avocado, banana, and plantain (a banana relative) are important foods in Central and South America; banana and citrus in Southeast Asia; date and fig in Asia Minor and the Near East; and breadfruit and coconut in scattered areas from the South Pacific Islands to the West Indies.

Planting

Tree Fruits

In planting tree fruits commercially, the aim is to achieve the highest production with the least labor. Dwarf and semidwarf trees are planted close together in hedgerows, which are “walls” of trees that are supported by posts and wires. In home gardens such trees are given more space; the goal usually is superior quality.

In earlier times standard, or large, trees were grown commercially. The modern trend toward dwarf and semidwarf trees planted close together is one of many practices that allow machines to do much of the work. Varieties that require cross-pollination, however, have special needs in regard to spacing.

In commercial orchards certain dwarf trees can be as close as 5 to 6 feet (1.5 to 2 meters) apart in rows 14 feet (4 meters) apart. This spacing yields about 518 trees per acre. For home gardens more space is needed for maintenance and picking.

Standard apples and pears need considerable room to grow, 35 to 45 feet (10 to 14 meters) from one trunk to the next. Dwarf apples and pears in home gardens can be planted as close as 10 feet (3 meters) apart. They often begin to bear fruit two years after planting. These trees are grafted onto special dwarfing rootstocks; care is taken when planting to keep the graft union above the soil line. Apple and pear trees need 32 to 36 inches (80 to 90 centimeters) of water per year, so in dry areas irrigation may be necessary. Pruning, or cutting off some of the branches, is minimal, restricted to removing dead and injured limbs and to removing inward-directed twigs. Fruits are borne on small twigs called spurs, which are produced on wood that is at least in its second year of growth. Pome fruits need cross-pollination, so a single planting requires at least two different varieties.

Stone fruit trees can be planted as close as 15 feet (4.5 meters) apart and pruned heavily to keep them small. If allowed to grow to their full size, standard peaches, plums, and sour cherries require distances of 18 to 25 feet (6 to 8 meters), and sweet cherries and apricots 25 to 40 feet (8 to 12 meters).

Cherry and peach trees grow best on cultivated land kept free of other plants. Apricots and plums are not as selective. Where annual rainfall is less than 30 inches (75 centimeters), commercial orchards of stone fruits are irrigated.

Unlike pome fruits, stone fruits may produce fruits on branches that are a year old. Most peach and apricot varieties are self-pollinating, as are sour cherries. Therefore, a planting does not need two different varieties. Most sweet cherries, however, must receive pollen from another sweet cherry variety in order to set fruit. Among the plums, most American and Japanese plums need to be cross-pollinated; some European plums also require this, but others do not.

All citrus fruit trees are injured by freezing, so their growing range is restricted to warm climates. The sweet orange is consumed in larger quantities than any other fruit. An orange tree needs about 400 square feet (36 square meters) of space in which to grow. Grapefruit trees need a little less space, lemon and lime trees a little more. Citrus trees do not need as deep soil as do deciduous fruit trees, 3 feet (1 meter) being sufficient for maximum yield. Most of them are self-pollinating. They require 36 to 48 inches (90 to 120 centimeters) of water annually. Fruiting occurs during the winter and early spring.

Small Fruits

Small fruits, including the berry and bush fruits, can be grown in beds or in rows. Grapes are spaced from 7 to 10 feet (2 to 3 meters) apart. On a fence or wall, a grape plant is given about 60 square feet (6 square meters) of space in which to spread its vines. Grapes need sun for at least half the day. Most modern grape varieties are self-fertile, but some provide better fruit when they are cross-pollinated with another variety.

Strawberries are of two basic types: the everbearing, which yields fruit over a long period; and the single-crop, or June-bearing, which provides a heavier concentration of fruit in early summer. Strawberries can be planted 18 inches (45 centimeters) apart in rows that are 2.5 to 4 feet (0.75 to 1.25 meters) apart. The runners of strawberry plants, from which new plants will develop, are removed during the first season to make the plants strong. The second year they are allowed to spread. Commercial plantings of strawberries are allowed to bear fruit for two years and then are discarded. In home gardens they can bear well for five or six years. Some old varieties require cross-pollination; newer ones are self-fruitful.

Bramble fruits include red, golden, black, and purple raspberries; erect blackberries; and trailing blackberries such as boysenberries, dewberries, loganberries, and youngberries. Most production is in cool areas. Except for a few everbearing red raspberries, they are prickly perennial shrubs with canes that bear fruit the second year and then die back.

Both red and black raspberries and erect blackberries are spaced approximately 3 to 3.5 feet (about 1 meter) apart. They are grown in rows 6 to 10 feet (2 to 3 meters) apart.

Brambles do well in soil with high organic matter, and dressings of manure or compost increase the yield. They are deep-rooted and so do not require irrigation as critically as do strawberries, for example. All commonly used varieties are self-fruitful and do not require pollinators such as bees.

Canes that have fruited, weak canes, and suckers between rows are removed by pruning. Strong, long canes can be cut back somewhat or tied to supports.

Grant Heilman/Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Many blueberries are harvested from the wild. Highbush and rabbiteye blueberries are grown widely in gardens. They grow best in acid soil and in areas of cool summers and mild winters. They need full sun and much moisture to do their best. Each highbush blueberry needs 30 square feet (3 square meters) of space; each rabbiteye needs 40 to 60 square feet (4 to 6 square meters). They are not tolerant of drought. Mulching helps retain moisture if necessary. Blueberries seem to do better when cross-pollinated, so a planting normally has at least two different varieties. Blueberries tend to produce too much fruit, which limits fruit size and increases time to maturity. Some flower buds are removed by growers to allow large berries to be produced in a shorter time.

Melons

Melons, including cantaloupe, muskmelon, honeydew, and watermelon, require at least 120 warm or hot days to mature. They are reasonably drought-resistant. In commercial plantings they are picked just short of full ripeness. In home gardens they are picked when they slip off the stem easily. Muskmelon and its relatives are spaced 3 to 5 feet (1 to 1.5 meters) apart in hills, or groups of two to three plants each. Watermelons in hills of two to three plants are given 80 to 100 square feet (7 to 9 square meters).

General Care

Care in commercial plantings is intensive and highly mechanized, from spraying and pruning to harvesting and grading. The close spacing makes it necessary to spray efficiently and to utilize mechanical devices that provide maximum yields. Fruit trees and small fruits in the home garden need care but not much more than do other garden plants.

Soils around fruit plantings can be kept free of weeds through cultivation or chemical control. Unless weeds are kept out, they will compete for water, nutrients, and, in the case of low-growing fruits, light. Cultivation is done with hand hoes or with tilling machines. Herbicides, or chemical weed killers, are effective and in wide use in commercial plantings. In home plantings tree fruits are generally grown in grass-covered ground. Grass growing under fruit trees, however, slows down their growth and vigor.

Water is essential for good growth. To lessen water loss from the soil by evaporation, mulches are widely used. These are materials spread on the ground around the trees. They can be organic—such as wood chips, cocoa bean hulls, or crushed corn cobs; or inorganic—such as stones or plastic coverings.

Some fruit plants require pollen from related but different varieties. For this reason many fruit growers maintain beehives near their fruit plantings or rent them during flowering periods. As bees go from one blossom to another, much of the pollen that clings to their bodies is transferred to the flowers of other plants of the same species, pollinating, or fertilizing, them. This permits the plants to produce their fruits and seeds.

Thinning, or removing flowers of very young fruit, is a common practice in fruitgrowing. The remaining fruits become larger and develop more rapidly. It can be done by hand, mechanically, or chemically.

Pest control is probably the most expensive and time-consuming operation in fruitgrowing. Increasingly, integrated pest management is practiced. This is the combined use of biological controls (pests of pests) on a long-term basis and chemicals only in case of a pest flare-up. Both cost and damage to the environment are greatly reduced by this method. In organic fruitgrowing no chemical pesticides or fertilizers are used, in order to avoid the buildup of potentially harmful chemical residues on the fruit.

Harvesting

Good records of past years’ production in commercial plantings are helpful in predicting the time of harvest. Scheduling of work and processing of fruit also depend on such data, as does the efficient use of equipment and labor.

The oldest harvesting technique is hand picking, which is still common. Commercial operations revert to hand picking when machines are not available or when their cost and feasibility are questionable. Machines have been devised to collect even the most easily bruised fruits. Plant breeders have developed crops that ripen uniformly, grow compactly, do not bruise easily, and hang freely or extend beyond the foliage for easier picking.

Some machines used commercially are motor-driven tree and bush shakers that have catching belts to slow fruit fall and also have storage capacity. There are also finger-type mechanical pickers, slappers, and paddles. In large orchards machines may pick, sort, clean, grade, and pack fruit in a continuous operation.

Processing, Storage, and Shipping

Fruits are washed or brushed to improve their appearance. Cooling slows the rate of respiration, slows shriveling, and inhibits decay. Costs can be cut by harvesting at night and in early morning while the crop is at its lowest temperature. After fruits are cooled, they must be kept cool during shipment.

Uniformity in quality, size, shape, color, and ripeness is sought because of consumer preference and because automated machines can handle quantities of uniform fruit with greater ease. Grades are established by law and are used to describe the produce. They are Extra Fancy, Fancy, No. 1, No. 2, and so on.

Most fruits are packaged in retail units before reaching stores. Wooden crates and baskets are declining in favor of trays and cartons of styrofoam, wood pulp, or cardboard designed for easy stacking and shipping and for minimal bruising.

Although most fruits are eaten raw and are enjoyed locally, some are preserved first through a variety of treatments such as drying (raisins, prunes, dates), cooking in syrup (candied fruits, jellies, preserves), and exposing to sulfur dioxide (apricots, prunes, maraschino cherries). Fruits also can be canned, frozen, dehydrated, pickled, fermented, juiced, and made into concentrates and preserves.

Storage of fruits not specially processed requires postharvest treatment so that crops can be sold over an extended period. The best storage slows life processes but avoids deterioration. Some techniques for storage include a controlled atmosphere in which oxygen and carbon dioxide are kept at optimal levels, usually 5 percent oxygen and 1 to 3 percent carbon dioxide. Also, low temperatures decrease respiration, and controlled humidity slows water loss.

Storage temperatures and humidity differ for each type of fruit. Most deciduous fruits can be kept at 32° to 41° F (0° to 5° C). Subtropical and tropical fruits cannot be held long under such temperatures without showing injury. Bananas, for example, will not tolerate temperatures under 53° F (12° C) without deteriorating rapidly. (See alsofood processing.)

World Production

At the end of the 20th century, world production of apples reached about 66 million tons (60 million metric tons) annually. China, the leading applegrowing country, grew more than 22 million tons (20 million metric tons) per year, followed by the United States, with about 5.5 million tons (5 million metric tons). In Europe much of the apple crop is processed as a mild alcoholic cider. Elsewhere the apple crop is sold mainly for eating fresh, but a good portion is converted to apple butter, jelly, applesauce, cider, and cider vinegar.

The total world production of pears exceeded 17.5 million tons (16 million metric tons) annually, mainly from China, the United States, Italy, and Spain. Pears are used fresh and canned and in Europe are crushed for cider and for winemaking.

The world’s peach and nectarine production approached 15.5 million tons (14 million metric tons) annually. China, the United States, Italy, and Spain are the leading peach and nectarine growers. China accounted for nearly half of the world’s plum production, which reached more than 9 million tons (8 million metric tons) annually.

Each year more than 115 million tons (105 million metric tons) of citrus fruits were produced worldwide, more than two thirds of which were oranges. Brazil, the United States, and China were the top citrus producers. India, Ecuador, and Brazil led in bananas, more than 70 million tons (65 million metric tons) of which were produced in the world annually.

The world’s annual production of cherries exceeded 1.8 million tons (1.7 million metric tons), mainly from Iran, the United States, Turkey, Italy, and Germany. More than 3 million tons (2.7 million metric tons) of apricots were produced, with Turkey, Iran, Italy, Pakistan, Spain, and France the leaders. Except for grapes, at about 66 million tons (60 million metric tons), and strawberries, at some 3.3 million tons (3 million metric tons), the annual production of other small fruits was less than a million tons each.

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